Apprenticeship diversity: key statistics
Below are six statistics about apprenticeships and particular groups. Read each statistic and consider what questions might be prompted by it. Click on the links to see our thoughts.
Between 2010 and 2015, 10% of apprentices were from BAME backgrounds, compared with 14.6% of the general population of England.
What additional barriers might people from BAME backgrounds face that prevent them form engaging with apprenticeships? How might they be overcome?
In 2014/15, 44,090 (or, 8.8%) of total apprenticeship starts declared they had a Learning Difficulty or Disability (LDD)
What types of learning difficulty or disability might be anticipated? What support needs could be put in place for the apprentice?
The government is committed to increasing the proportion of BAME apprentices by 20% by 2020 - that is, from 10% to 11.9%.
What specific actions might be taken to help reach this target?
Out of the 8.8% of apprentices that declared a Learning Difficulty and/or Disability, only 5.1% specified what particular learning difficulty they had.
Do you think apprentices prefer not to share too much information about any learning disability they have? What are the consequences of this? How might that issue be addressed?
BAME people put in a relatively high proportion of applications for apprenticeships, but are less likely to secure an apprenticeship.
If this group of learners are being disproportionality turned-down for apprenticeships, what might be the result of that? How could the issue be addressed?
Apprentices from Asian backgrounds appear to be particularly under-represented: only 4.3% of starts, compared with 8.0% of the general population.
What might be the underlying causes for this? Of all the possible causes, which one(s) might you be able to address?
